


Apart

by RowenaNie



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rutting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:21:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22461793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowenaNie/pseuds/RowenaNie
Summary: After Bruce has ordered Dick to leave Gotham for good, Dick finds Bruce alone in a rut.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 25
Kudos: 213





	1. Rut

**Author's Note:**

> Please read tags, will contain explicit sex. Can be interpreted as dubious consent.

The smell that engulfed Dick was unmistaken. Already when he entered the alley, could he scent the alpha; clearly in a mating rut.

There should also be an omega in heat somewhere too, but Dick couldn’t sniff anything. It troubled and confused him; the alpha would search for his mate. And he might not realize that Dick wasn’t his mate if he approached.

Never approach an alpha in rut; imperative knowledge for an omega. Sometimes his detective job included dealing with alpha’s that had attacked their mates in such situations. Dick usually only dated betas, he found them less complicated. Now close to thirty, he had decided that he didn’t want to submit to an alpha at all.

Worried, Dick pulled out an escrima stick from his car. Ready to defend himself, hoping desperately that it would not be necessary. The dark alley was quiet, trashcans were tipped over, and the dirty alley stank like vermin and piss. Escape might be difficult, he realized. Instinctively he mapped all exit routes before approaching; a fire escape, maybe if he climbed the wall in the end of the alley, jumping over a trash container.

Still uncertain that it was Bruce, who was the alpha he smelled.

For a moment Dick didn’t recognize his former mentor. The other man was in his underwear on his back in the dirty alley, frantically panting. He hadn’t detected Dick. In the twilight, he discerned what Bruce had been doing.

His erection was large and pulsing through, very visible. He was frantically pleasuring himself. Mere second after Dick had gotten visual contact, Bruce looked up with the ferociousness of a predator. His eyes were not his own, they were feral filled with fire. The alpha let go of himself and struggled to his feet. Moving towards Dick.

The pheromones were affecting Dick. He was going uncomfortably warm; his desire for touch, feel, engulf in the other man was overwhelming his senses. If he had not taken suppressants, Dick was certain this would induce his heat.

Dick stepped backwards, assessing the situation. Only an omega in heat would trigger a rut, but Bruce was apparently alone.

‘Dick,’ the other man moaned. The large form staggered menacing towards him. Everything Dick knew about alphas said that he needed to run immediately. But he couldn’t. Bruce was in pain and in distress. It petrified Dick for a moment.

‘I was poisoned,’ Bruce rasped. The alpha’s scent was now so powerful that Dick could barely breathe. The other man pushed into him, and for inexplicit reasons Dick just closed his arms around him.

‘Smell so good,’ Bruce growled, sniffing in at Dick’s throat. Even with all the years they had worked together, Dick had never smelt the alpha’s pheromones before. The older man had always ensured that they both were taking suppressants, crossing no lines.

Now Bruce took a long sniff into Dick’s neck again. The heat of the larger man’s breath and the smell confused Dick. Grateful of the drugs that kept him from going into heat, he pulled at Bruce.

‘Come on B. We need to get you to a safe-house.’ Dick knew that he should call Alfred, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t let anyone else see his mentor like this. Warm and panting and begging for release. The huge erection was throbbing into his upper thigh. It was hard and unabiding.

He needed to get Bruce to a safe-house and to leave as fast as possible. He pulled Bruce towards his car, Fortunately, the alpha followed him. Lesser men would have forced the omega right there in the ally. Bruce possessed an impressive self-restraint.

Dick could feel his heart race as the alpha sniffed his neck again. He tried to get a bit of distance as the alpha was worrying close to his scent glands. Momentarily, Dick thought he detected a faint trace of omega pheromones on the other man. The odor definitely didn’t emanate from the alpha. Possibly someone had sprayed him with omega heat pheromones. That would explain the rut.

Dick pushed Bruce forcefully into his car, the alpha clung to him, growling.

‘Dick, I want you,’ Bruce rasped. Dick knew that it was the rut talking, but he had to bite himself into the cheek. So frequent had he longed to hear those words from the alpha, but he knew it was Bruce’s biology talking. The sooner he could get the alpha locked into the safe-house and leave, the better.

Bruce’s erection was huge and thick and the alpha had troubles sitting still. Dick strapped himself into the driver’s seat. And looked worriedly towards the other man who was trying frantically to tear away his underwear, trying to ride the rut off by pleasuring himself in frantic moves.

His dick was large and red, it was dripping painfully with pre-cum; he couldn’t finish himself no matter how hard he drove his hand. Bruce panted and moaned. Moving to Dick.  
‘I want to take you,’ Bruce growled dangerously. Dick knew that the alpha would.

Dick pulled his car up in front of the safe-house. It would probably get towed. And Bruce was definitely paying for that. But at the moment he didn’t dare to park further away. They couldn’t risk being spotted. Bruce moved his hips towards Dick as he was half helped out. 

‘I want you submission.’ Bruce was feverish. He was sweating and flushed with adrenaline.

He pushed Bruce in front of the eye scanner to unlock the door to the apartment. Bruce was holding a hand around his member again. Dick knew that he should leave. The rut would probably disappear in a few days, and he could ask Alfred to check up on Bruce.

Dick sighed, as Bruce moved in front of him. He shouldn’t fight an alpha. Especially not the bulk of a man that Bruce was, but Dick knew that with his agility he could escape the feverish man without fighting him. Just making a quick escape out of the door.

But he found himself frozen. 

‘Submit, omega,’ Bruce commanded in his alpha voice. Dick instinctively bent his head. Innermost he wanted to say: ‘Fuck off.’ Had it been any other alpha, he wouldn’t hesitate.

However, there was also something else in Bruce’s demeanor as a wounded animal. Dick found that he wanted to help. If that meant submitting, he might be okay with that.

‘Yes, alpha,’ Dick said. He bowed his head and placed himself in front of the alpha, who stood in the middle of the small living-room.

It was all it took for Bruce to attack him like a wild animal, tearing his shirt off. Bruce was definitely also paying for the shirt. Bruce had seen him naked before, but as far as he was aware, the alpha had never been particularly interested in him. In fact, Dick was fairly certain that he was not Bruce’s type at all.

They had been partners, and then Bruce had fired him more times than he could count, the last ten years they had not even been close. And it was not reluctance on Dick’s part.

Bruce stepped into him, pulling his already soiled underwear off, sniffing into Dick’s neck. Sudden panic. It was clear to Dick that Bruce did not understand what he was doing and with whom. While he was interested in burning out his rut with Dick, he most likely would not appreciate it if Dick allowed him to mark him.

‘B, stop,’ Dick said. ‘If you claim me, I’ll leave, understood?’ He got an angry growl in return. That at least showed that the alpha had heard him.

And while Bruce was licking at his neck, fortitious he was not using any teeth. Dick was not in heat, and taking suppressants, a heat was unlikely. But he still felt slightly wet at the scent of the alpha.

It was good; he worried about how Bruce would even fit into him and going dry would be painful.

Bruce was sucking at his shoulder, moving his sturdy body into Dick’s. Bruce’s body was square and hard; muscles clear under the skin. Scars from many years of fight marked his upper body. His masculine scent was completely overtaking Dick. And Dick felt himself gasp as Bruce pushed a finger inside him.

He pulled Dick around. Pushing him to his knees on the hard floor, Dick desperately tried to relax, as Bruce moved another finger into him. 

‘Feels so good and tight,’ Bruce growled.

The cold wooded floor was hard on his knees, and the enormous bulk of the other man was pressing him down.

He had dreamt about Bruce’s hard body for years, and now they were finally fucking. It was hard and cold and guilty. He was uncertain Bruce even knew who he was taking at this point in time. 

‘Are you ready for me, omega?’ Bruce growled. ‘Yes,’ Dick said. But he couldn’t be prepared for the feeling of something huge pushed into him, filling him painfully. The size stretched his hole to the brink of him passing out.

He gasped in the strange place between extreme pleasure and pain, and he was likewise getting hard. He moved to stroke himself, as Bruce slammed into him. The other man held hard on both his hips.

It was the first time he had allowed an alpha to take him and the scent overcame him, as he orgasmed on the floor beneath him.

Bruce was panting frantically behind him, slamming even harder into him than before, and he could hear the other also finishing. He felt strangely full and was surprised when the other didn’t slide out of him, and something got bigger inside him.

Realizing too late that he was being knotted. For seconds he wondered whether he should try to stop it. But found himself wanting this, he wanted Bruce’s knot; he allowed it to finish.

The knot filled amazingly, a new sensation. A strange fullness warmed him from the inside. Happiness of the connection to the man that he loved. He desperately hoped that Bruce had been lucid enough to have pulled out if this was unintentional.

Bruce collapsed half on top of him, and it was only then that Dick realized that they were naked, stuck together on the cold floor, his knees were scraped, and he was shivering, Bruce moved his big arms around him and placed a kiss on the back of his neck. 

‘Mine,’ he whispered into Dick’s ear.

Dick snuggled up to the other man, trying to attain the warmth, which Bruce appeared to have in abundance, as they were stuck together on the floor

***

Bruce Wayne woke up on a wooden floor. Naked, for a moment he couldn’t recall how he had gotten there. He didn’t appear to have any injuries. A warm naked body was pushed up against his stomach, the faint smell of an omega filled him, warm and comfortable.

He had been aroused, and possibly he had knotted this person during the night. The circumstances, however, eluded him. He hadn’t been in a rut since he was a teenager, but he was fairly certain that that was what had happened.

But the omega in front of him didn’t smell like heat. He smelled like... sudden realization came to him. He had knotted Dick Grayson. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. Why was Dick even here? They had had a fight. Dick had left for good. And the events of the previous night was completely lost to him.

Bruce immediately drew back from the other man, Dick rolled disgruntled to his back. Staring up at Bruce.   
‘B, what’s going on?’ He asked sheepishly. If he had knotted the omega without him being in heat; he might have injured him. Especially since it had been during a rut. He had probably just attacked Dick, had taken him, as he had dreamt about.

It did thanks for small mercies appear that Dick did not have any bite marks on his neck, as least he had not claimed the other man.

‘Dick,’ his mind was processing; trying to find out what had happened. 

‘What have you done?’ Bruce couldn’t think what else to say. Guilt and pain flushed over the other’s face. Dick was clearly blaming himself. But he knew very well that if he had been in a rut and if Dick had consented to them having sex, he should probably count himself lucky.

The chances he had coerced the omega or even taken him by force were likely. Bruce didn’t want his own guilt visible, putting the blame on the other man. If he had not wanted to knot Dick, he would have been able to stop it, even when amid a rut. He wanted Dick so much, and in the rut he had had less resistance against himself.

Dick, however, was a different matter. The young omega had most definitely shown no inclination of being interested in alphas, or men, or Bruce for that matter. And now Bruce had knotted him, when the omega hadn’t even been in heat. While Dick might not be neither young anymore nor inexperienced, Bruce doubted that being knotted by a fifteen year older alpha was on his bucket list.

Bruce quickly moved to get some clothes from the spare he kept in all his safe-houses. He didn’t want to face the hurt expression on Dick’s face. He had already ruined what they had had left of their estranged relationship. Now there was nothing left. He could just as well make a clean cut, if Dick didn’t want to press charges.

‘I told you, you were no longer welcome in Gotham, Nightwing,’ Bruce growled, as Dick was scrambling to get to his clothes, scattered around the room.

'But B, I think someone sprayed omega pheromones in your face last night, you might still be in danger,' Dick protested. Bruce had decided to not address the young man about their encounter, moved towards the younger man.

‘Nightwing, do not interfere in my business, I have this under control,’ he warned. Dick had the audacity to roll his eyes.   
‘Clearly.’ He was understandably upset.

The wounded expression on Dick’s face turned his stomach. Bruce was well aware that he was the one that should feel ashamed. He had definitely taken advantage of Nightwing, and possibly he had forced himself on him. Dick looked hurt as he refused to look at Bruce again.

For a moment he extended his hand towards Dick, his body aching to make a connection with the omega, but immediately he regretted and redrew the hand.

‘Bye B,’ Dick didn’t look back as he moved out the door. A clear note of hurt was laced in his voice.


	2. Heat

His car had been clamped. That figured. Dick stood transfixed and stared at the offending device on the wheel, gritting his teeth. Every muscle in his body was burning and his hole was hurting painfully and made it excruciating to walk. He could stay in Gotham and pay the fine to get his car free, but that would entail staying in the same city as Bruce, and he desperately knew that he needed to leave as soon as possible.

He shouldn’t feel a gaping loss inside him, but it was there and painfully so.

Dick just wanting to get away. He pulled out an escrima stick and gave the lock on the clamp an electric shock. It bulked and clicked off the tire.

It was still just before dawn; Dick pulled out of the city. His thoughts kept moving around what had happened the night before. The smell of Bruce’s rut still clung to the car.

Unwelcome images filled his mind, images of Bruce, naked, taking him hard, touching him, the potent smell of the alpha mixed in. The images were quickly overtaken by the hard reality of the early morning, Bruce being angry, of blaming him afterwards.

Dick should have not allowed Bruce to work through his rut on him, that much was clear.

Disgusted with himself, Dick punched hard into the steering wheel.

He desperately just wanted to return home now. The masculine scent of Bruce still filled him; it blocked out all rational thoughts in his mind. He wanted desperately to just shower, but he was uncertain that the scent, or the feeling of it would ever leave him.

Dick sank, a gush of slick flushed out of him. Sweat began running down his forehead. He felt warm, too warm. It was not until he was halfway back, before he realized what was happening to him.

He was in heat.

Dick hadn’t been in heat for years, and it shouldn’t happen. He was almost certain that it was Bruce’s rut that was the course. For a second, Dick thought he still had time to return to Blüdhaven before the heat rendered him immobile.

Dick’s emotions kept telling him he needed Bruce desperately, but he knew that it wasn’t possible. He was becoming intolerably hot; he almost couldn’t breathe as more slick kept wetting the seat under him. His erection was getting hard too.

It wasn’t long before Dick realized that he definitely would not make it all the way to Blüdhaven. He began panting and his vision blurred of lust, his hands were shaking, and he began to think he could not drive the car safely for much longer. Desperate to bring himself to release, he pulled over at the nearest turnpike, a motel.

Almost vomiting on the way out, Dick pushed himself out of the car and stumbled into the motel reception. Fortunately, it didn’t appear that the old worn-down motel had many patrons. He might reek of heat at this point. The elderly matron in the reception eyed him with skepticism.

‘Cleaning after heat is extra,’ she said, looking like she didn’t care that much. Dick was sweating, panting, the bulge very visible in his pants, slick darkened his trousers.

‘Keys. Check out at ten,’ she said, indifferent to his predicament.

Dick nodded, barely being able to hold it together. The lady moved back to her computer.

As he moved into his worn-down room, he began pulling off his clothes. The room stank of dust and the bitterness of old cigarettes, and the furnishing was mostly held in brown colors; the room was filled by a dirty looking queen size bed. With stains on the bedspread.

Desperately, he pulled off his underwear. His hole was leaking, and he was being desperate. He needed Bruce, desperately; he didn’t know why it was Bruce that kept creeping into his thoughts. For desperate moments, he wanted to call the alpha, asking him to come, to comfort, to take him hard as he had done during the night. To fill him up.

Bruce might even be the reason for this heat, but Dick knew that that was not really possible to get Bruce to come to him. Even if Dick gained enough lucidity and courage to call Bruce, the older alpha would not come.

It was not like Bruce hadn’t been pretty clear about that.

Dick moved himself onto the bed, gently touching his tender, swollen hole. Finger in. It was still loose from the night before, and he tried desperately to add a second. Frantically pushing a third into it, pulling back and forward, gasping and laying on his back. Unwelcome images of Bruce’s big form that encapsulating him filled his mind; he pushed his fingers in again. Impaling himself as he frantically began stroking his red and swollen erection.

His toned abdomen was wet with sweat, as he searched for a release that wouldn’t come.

Damn, Bruce, it was his rut that tricked this untimely heat. Dick’s suppressants had apparently not been strong enough for that. Desperate for release, for being filled again by the swollen knot of the alpha, he pushed in another finger. Adrenaline and lust overtook the pain from the night. He pushed into the tender area; thoroughly used.

He couldn’t find relief, and he was panting desperately. He was sweating hard, pushing in again. He didn’t remember that he had ever felt a heat this bad. His hand was shaking; his loose hole wasn’t getting the filling it needed. Dick had almost not noticed that he was getting nauseous before he began feeling lightheaded. Sudden pain rippled through him as he rolled to his side and vomited on the gray brown carpet.

He should be crippling nauseous, but the want, a knot to fill the desperate need, overtook him again. Rolling to his knees, mimicking the position he had been in the night before. Desperate to pull the hand into his entrance. Orgasmed again on the blanket. It did little to help.

He was lightheaded, now desperate to reach fulfillment. He needed help; he needed Bruce so much.

This was not a normal heat, some distant part of his mind told him; something was wrong.

Finally, he found Bruce’s number on his phone; still desperately panting, waiting for the alpha to pick up, waiting an eternity before it finally went to voicemail. This was not a surprise, but the rejection rippled through him like fire, anyway.

Desperate, he called anew, not caring how it would look. The desperation for Bruce was becoming unbearable. And the emptiness inside him was ripping him apart. He was panting desperately for another release.

The room was becoming cold.

Shivering, Dick fell to his side. He endured another bolt of nausea roll over him. Too exhausted to finish himself, his teeth clattering from the cold. He pushed himself under the blanket and passed out.

Dick woke up, alone, cold, tangled in the blanket. The room smelled like sick and mold. The sunlight was flowing into the room, and his throat was painfully dry. Stumbling out of bed. There were angry red marks where he had scratched himself during the heat. Dried slick and cum was sticking to the sheet and down his thighs. Despite his head warning to split open in pain, it seemed like the heat had left him.

His heat should have lasted at least three days, but he was almost certain that it had lasted only hours. He struggled to the bathroom. A cockroach scuttled across the floor. Desperately he drank from the water tap.

He ignored the implications that the heat had already stopped.

He just wanted to get home to his apartment and forget his encounter with Bruce and this untimely heat, spent in a stained brown motel room. The motel room was greasy, and Dick mused whether every room was as dirty. Possible, no one bothered to clean the room destined for omega’s in heat..

Dick stared at his phone no new calls or messages; so Bruce had not tried to contact him just once. He flipped through the outgoing calls, feeling mortified that he had called Bruce twenty-five times. Embarrassed, and sad from the obvious rejection. His own worth being decimated to nothing.

He desperately hoped that he hadn't sent any embarrassing messages, and of course he had.

‘B, please call back...’

‘Pick up, please...’

Going to the more embarrassing,

‘I am so sorry, I just need to hear your voice.’

Sighing, he turned off the phone again. Tears formed in the corner of his eyes. Dick tried to force his mind not to contemplate why Bruce hadn’t even bothered to pick up the phone or answer any of the messages.

It didn’t work.

It was clear that Bruce despised him. This couldn’t get any worse. Embarrassed, Dick threw the phone in his bag again. Preferably, Bruce would just delete those messages. The alpha had broken the connection completely. It was excruciating that they would stop talking like this.

Did Bruce hate him that much?

And Dick instantly hated that he cared so much about what Bruce was thinking about him.

But of course he did. The older man kept creeping into the cracks of his mind. It had been his name upon Dick’s lips the night before, and it was only Bruce’s approval that mattered to Dick.

Throwing his ruined clothes in the bin, Dick redressed in the spare from his bag, and left.

‘$50 extra for cleaning.’

Dick glared at the receptionist. Not like that room had been particularly clean to begin with. However, after vomiting on the floor, he could hardly blame the fee. He placed the notes on the desk. They were over-charging for the room, and he spent his last change.

At least he hadn’t had to deal with any alphas in this place. The receptionist was a beta.

His car also needed a good cleaning.

It still smelled like Bruce and himself.

***

It was not optimal that Batman had to handle the Poison Ivy situation. She had developed flowers that could shoot out mating pheromones. Fortunately, he was not making the same mistake twice. Getting in front of a pollinating plant.

It turned out to be a mess of alphas in rut attacking unsuspecting bystanders. Batman had to suppress his own shame as he cut down the flowers and cuffed the poor alphas and called for medical support for any bystander.

It took most of the following day. And Batman hated working during the day. He didn’t want to contemplate on the outcome had Dick not been there. Actually, he would have done the same thing he had done to Dick, just to another poor soul.

And that would have been better.

It was not before he was on his way back in the bat-mobile and he leaned over to check his phone. Normally anyone would call his comm, unless it was his business. It surprised him to find that he had twenty-five missed calls. Flicking through the list, apparently all from Dick Grayson. That was strange. He had not expected Dick to call him again.

And he had been very specific that Dick shouldn’t try to contact him. Getting annoyed, he flipped through his messages, staring at them for a moment.

Bruce didn’t even know how to interpret these messages and calls. What was Dick’s game at this point? He pressed delete all messages, and blocked the number, before closing the phone and throwing it on the seat next to him, where Robin had been supposed to sit.

He was also between Robins.

‘Are you all right, master Wayne?’ Alfred asked, probably able to pick up the faint smell of rut lingering on him.

‘Perfectly fine, Alfred,’ he growled.  
‘Did anyone call?’ Bruce asked, not wanting to ask about Dick specifically.

‘No, sir, were you expecting a phone call?’ Yes, he desperately was. But he couldn’t very well ask for Dick, since Alfred had been there when he had expelled him from the house.

Not revealing details about the night’s events. And he couldn’t very well call Dick himself. But it surprised him that Dick hadn’t called Alfred if something was seriously wrong. He had evidently been desperate enough to call Bruce through most of the morning.

‘Did Dick call you?’ Bruce asked again. Realizing that he needed to be certain. The butler paused. For seconds, Bruce hoped that Dick would have reached out to Alfred.

‘No sir, why would master Richard call me?’ Alfred was looking suspicious now.

‘No, you’re right, of course.’  
‘Do not worry, master Richard can take care of himself,’ Alfred said. If only Bruce could believe that. They both left it at that. Alfred didn’t know that Dick had been taken and knotted by force by someone he should have trusted.

It disgusted Bruce. Of course there was no reason why Alfred should also be disgusted. He pulled off his cape and gloves.

The faint smell of Dick was still lingering in him. Logically, he knew that it was his mind playing tricks on him, but the warm sense of the omega’s body was so close, it was like Dick was still there. By right, they had not mated, but the sharp pain of separation remained in his body.

Bruce took a sharp intake in breath, forcing the feeling away.  
Dick was not his mate, far from it, and any lingering feelings were from his own guilt.

‘I am going to bed,’ Bruce said. Hopefully, he could sleep it off.  
‘Should I bring you something to eat, sir?’ He was not hungry for food.

‘Yes, thank you, Alfred.’

***

Dick kept feeling cold. It was as if he was ever getting warm again. He shuttered, his neck kept being itchy. He had always been having dreams about Bruce, but lately it had become even worse.

Dick woke up, bathed in sweat. Shivering at the same time. His apartment was dark, and he stared into the wall. His appetite had been non existent since he had left Gotham. Rolling out of bed, he stared at his phone. No incoming messages. Staring at it again. Still, nothing.

For a moment too petrified to raise from bed, feeling a bout of dizziness. Sinking a lump, Dick had already called sick from work twice that week. Coughing, he struggled out.

‘You look like shit,’ his partner told him. Shit was also incidentally also how he felt at this point.


	3. Drop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos.
> 
> Stay home and stay safe.

Dick was cold, colder than he had ever felt before. His body shook, the cold drops of sweat formed on his forehead and made him shiver. With no strength, he stared into the wall. The wallpaper was coming apart. Gray shadows danced under the torn shreds of paper.

He had with his last effort called in sick. It might have been days since getting back. Everything had blurred together.

His face was ashen in the mirror, gray, pale, anemic.

Pulling another sweater over his nightclothes. Not having enough strength to eat. It wasn’t clear how much time had passed. Someone had sent him a message. His motor functions of his fingers was weak as he pushed his hand out to flicker the phone to silence.

His chest was constricted, and his neck and shoulder kept itching. No matter how much he scratched his nails into the side of his neck. Sharp pain was not enough to alleviate the itch.

It had been weeks, probably one message had been from his boss coming with a warning, maybe one message was to fire him.

Someone knocked on his door, insistently. Sliding fingers across his neck; the scratches he had made was stinging, and the tender flesh was swollen.

Closing his eyes again, sliding under the blanket.

The knocking became more insistent.

‘Dick, I know you are in there.’ It was his partner. Dick didn’t respond. His body was hollow, like everything had lost all color in the world.

In a moment he thought he heard Bruce’s alpha growl over the cold.

But it was possible just his imagination, if he had more tears they would be bitter. 

Dick pushed himself out of bed, supporting himself to the wall to reach the door. His stomach was sunken.

Looking through the spyhole, it was his partner. Stabbing pain in his chest, it was not Bruce. Logically, Dick saw no reason it should have been Bruce.

He ached for it to have been Bruce.

His partner knocked again.

Dizziness and coldness to the marrow chilled Dick, before he collapsed against the linoleum floor.

And blackness overtook him in waves as he was dragged into an unfamiliar world.

***

It was a dark ally, it was like Dick was in a dream, as in a dream he could not control any limbs of the body. He was chasing something, someone; the darkness made it difficult to see. Running against the rainy street.

From the buildings and the lighting, Dick thought he could recognize the wet streets of Blüdhaven.

But it wasn’t his body, as he looked down at the black costume of the batman, in pursuit.

He was Bruce, or he saw through Bruce’s eyes.

The chill air of the rooftops mixed with his own extreme coldness. Jumping, chasing some unknown entity.

Dick wanted it to stop, unable to bear this connection with Bruce that meant nothing to the alpha.

Waking up inside the dream, realizing he wanted this to end. Screaming with no sound coming out.

Pushing himself out of this unreal simulation, tearing himself away.

For fractions of a second, he was certain that Bruce was dropping, falling inside his dream as the connection disappeared; a silent, desperate scream as Bruce plummeted towards the hard ground.

Unable to know whether it was Bruce, or himself that had uttered the horrid sound or even if the sound was just inside his mind.

Suddenly gasping for air like his breathing had stopped. Alone, bathed in sweat on the floor.

***

The rumors that Nightwing had stopped patrolling the rooftops of Blüdhaven were too much for Bruce to ignore.

Of course, he knew where Dick lived. He could just as well visit him and ask. But that wasn’t an option.

A gawking emptiness inside him. Calling and visiting was for normal people.

Bruce had disconnected his tracker before leaving Gotham.

‘Will you be back for supper, master Bruce?’ Alfred had asked, the butler would be suspicious in either case. No-one knew he was in Blüdhaven.

Probably going to be expelled from Nightwing’s territory. Part of the reason he was going in discretely, at least as discretely as possible.

Not knowing if he wanted Nightwing to be aware of his presence or not.

Memories, he would rather forget, were resurfacing of Dick, twisting in pain on all four. Knotted held in place.

Dreams such a part of his subconscious that there was no reason to doubt that they were real.

Pushing away with repulsion of the deep lust he felt. Something impossible to sate. In the chilly night, the dark streets were deserted; illuminated only by the streetlights and the lights from the windows of the city-dwellers that had no longer gone to bed.

The last week’s numbness was almost gone. In the quiet, gloomy streets. Especially when looking down on the streets that Dick used to patrol, the streets which Dick might still patrol. 

Where the familiar shadow of Nightwing might lurk.

The warmness, the homeliness, the comfort he had denied himself for months, suddenly changed as fast, a sensation of something, someone pushes pulling his innards out. Separating him, pushing him from the plateau he had been standing at, before he plummeted into the darkness.

***

The place where Bruce Wayne woke up was unfamiliar. The musty smell and the dirty wallpaper coming off.

Pain radiated from his legs and hips. It shrouded his head in a painful cloud.

Pushing a hand to his chest where his breastplate should have been, breathing was painful, holding a hand to his side.

The familiar pain of broken rips.

The bat suit, he realized, alarmed. Someone had removed the suit, grunting.

A shadow was lurking in the doorway, a lonely figure in a gray hoodie. It took a few moments in his hazy mind to realize who it was, that it was really Dick.

The lack of scent confused him; it was strange because it shouldn’t, Dick had always worn a scent patch. After their encounter, Bruce had been associating Dick with a smell, and it was oddly disturbing now that it was gone.

‘Dick?’ He rasped, struggling with his fractured rips, holding a hand out in the semidarkness.

Hesitantly, like a shadow, he turned. He was at Dick’s apartment, but the details on how he had gotten there was fuzzy.

Vaguely, he recalled Dick finding him again, but unlike the other time, he had been unconscious. Not overtaken by shear lust. Dick was calm, taking a long dispassionate look at the mess. 

Dick knew he was awake. Even without night-vision.

‘You might have a concussion,’ Dick said. First extending a hand to touch Bruce’s shoulder, but passed by, like he regretted at the last moment. 

Pursing his lips.

‘Alfred will pick you up in the morning.’ Dick span around, not waiting for a reply.

Something was wrong with Dick, it was clear, even if his scent was masked, something was wrong; either if it was how the man’s clothes hung looser on him than usual, or if it was something else.

Aching, gasping as he pushed a hand to his injured rips, this place reeked of desperation, of decay.

Was Dick sick, was that why Nightwing had been inactive?

Why had Dick even taken him here? 

There was that strange absence of smell, not even the sheets, Dick’s sheets should smell of him.

Dick Grayson was like a ghost.

‘You made me fall.’ Bruce growled. And he had also found him and bought him to his home. It was a level of trust that Bruce did not deserve.

Dick was sitting on the couch, his face buried in his hands.

The lights were on.

The accusation was deep and came out reproachful, Bruce hadn’t realized before he had taken that trip to Blüdhaven. Limping breathing hard.

Somehow Dick had been inside his mind, some panic, fear primal loss had been transferred. 

Dick looked up, his eyes were sunken. Sitting in a dark hoodie. Given up, desperate eyes, his hand was unconsciously held unto the scent glands, probably hiding a scent patch.

Sudden alpha angry overcame him, possession of the omega. Like the omega had no right to mask his scent.

Ignoring the pain in his rips and head hormones, looking at him growling, pushing himself over Dick, growling.

Dick gave a surprising gasp as Bruce moved into him. As the omega flinched, Bruce realized what he had done, that he had moved to attack Dick. 

Dick flinched back. He slipped his hand down, revealing his scent glands. Bruce scrambled back, almost collapsing onto the table.

There were angry red scratches down Dick’s scent glands. The lack of pheromones coming from the omega was disturbing.

‘Bruce, what...?’

Dick got up, looking more disturbed that he scrambled back than that Bruce had moved into his space.

‘Careful, you...’ He said, he looked fragile as he took a step towards Bruce, putting a hand out to stabilize him.

His hands were cold and clammy. Bruce eyes kept fixated on the angry red marks on Dick’s neck, Bruce could think of no other explanation than the young man had done this to himself.

The touch seemed to make Dick shiver. It was enough to push Bruce over the edge, as he lurched himself forwards, struggling against himself, almost regretting as Dick moved his hands around the larger form.

Yearning to explore the reason for this.

Dick slumped into him. The smaller man became limp in his arms as he inhaled desperately into Bruce.

‘You are in a drop.’ Bruce realized what happened.

‘That is why you don’t smell of anything.’

Dick didn’t reply, no telling how long this had lasted. It might even be bond deprivation. While uncommon, Dick shouldn’t be able to suffer such. When he was not even been bonded.

‘Why are you not in a hospital?’ No reply, the cold clammy skin with its unnatural lack of scent. Suppressants would just make it worse, but they could at least give something for the pain.

Dick began shaking in his arms. For a moment he was convinced that he was crying, before he realized that it was laughter, cold bitter laughter.

Dick pushed him away, moved him away, staring with angry eyes.

‘Fuck you, Bruce.’ Scrambling away, unfortunately there wasn’t anywhere for Dick to flee, just moving back to the couch. Bruce observed for a moment.

‘Who did this?’ Bruce growled, hate boiling in him, rage of the brokenness in front of him. Desperate for someone to blame that wasn’t himself.

Defiance and annoyance was clear in Dick’s face. Before he diverted his face. The answer too clear.

Bruce turned around and crawled back to bed, to Dick’s bed.

***

It hadn’t taken Dick long to realize that what he had actually seen was real, that Bruce really had fallen.

Now seeing Bruce injured in his bed was too much. scenting Bruce’s alpha musk on his own cold skin. Taking the alpha back to his own apartment had been a mistake.

But if he had called an ambulance, it would have been difficult to keep the batman’s identity a secret.

Instead, he had just taken him here.

Bruce might have a concussion, but it was his drop that had done this. His own unconscious mind had reached out in a last desperate attempt to reach his mate.

But Bruce didn’t want any bond. It was all in Dick’s mind, his broken, torn mind. The half formed bond was like a severed limb.

Some deep pit inside his own mind had transferred to Bruce’s. And how horrible that made him feel. Bruce wouldn’t have been left in this state if it wasn’t for him.

Why had he believed it to be a good idea to bring Bruce to his apartment? The pure disgust in Bruce’s eyes when he had realized what was happening, made him cringe.

Dick felt exposed over his embarrassing predicament. A drop happened to omegas, who no-one wanted. Someone so holy unwanted that his pheromones would stop and eventually he would whither and fade from this world.

Shameful, he touched the scratches on his neck again. It stung faintly, the itching was decreasing. It would be a good sign, but he realized what it meant. Slamming his hand angrily onto the table.

He couldn’t sense anything through the numbness of his muscles.

Why couldn’t Bruce just have stayed in Gotham? No reason why he should appear in Blüdhaven.

There was plenty of injustice to fix elsewhere. 

Pulling the blanket further up around him, the coldness was seeping into his bones, and denied all sleep. Where Bruce’s fingers had gripped his wrist, the skin was itchy and prickling.

The touch only increased the deprivation that slowly overtook his body and tore him into the abyss.

***

Dick woke up at voices from his living room. He couldn’t move, he was like he was frozen solid. His mind kept thinking Mr. Freeze had caught him.

‘I don’t think that would be advisable at this time, master Wayne.’ It was Alfred, but his eyes couldn’t focus, his vision was just one big blurry blob.

‘Well, I am open to suggestions.’

‘Maybe if you had just kept communications open with master Richard, you would have known who his mate is, and possibly be able to save him from this predicament.’

Dick closed his eyes again. The need for Bruce rose in his chest again. His skin was getting clammy, and his chest was constricted, and the heat that had spread to his body from where Bruce had touched him had long faded.

Silent communication was exchanged between the two men.

‘Sir...’ a sigh. A disappointed sigh, Alfred putting the puzzle together.

‘I do not think it is a good idea to leave him like this,’ Alfred finally said.

‘I don’t intend to leave him.’ Bruce growled. Some grunts from Alfred showed that he had his doubts.

Alfred was prodding him after a moment, pulling his hoodie down to get a look at his neck.

Careful not to touch his skin. Sitting down to talk to him.

‘Master Richard.’ Dick didn’t respond.

***

Dick looked way worse than before. Bruce yearned to touch him, to put life back into the ashen skin. But held back, he had violated Dick before. He refused to do it again.

It was clear from their connection that they were mated, no matter if he hadn’t formally claimed him with a bite.

Would Dick forgive him? That was not likely. Dick did not wish to be claimed, and at this point he didn’t know if it could be avoided.

His skin was electric as he pulled Dick into his arms. Letting the lifeless body cling to him. The omega had lost weight, and the drop was slowly draining all life from him.

Alfred cast Bruce a blaming look, Dick was like a zombie, his eyes partly open, pupils unfocused. Unable to consent to being driven away.

Dick slumped back into Bruce’s chest. Alfred’s eyes studied him, full of blame in the back mirror.

Definitely going to get berated. Deserved it. For now Alfred had just discretely and with care packed a bag with Dick’s clothes and helped the half complacent omega to the back of the waiting car. 

The pale clammy skin felt alien against his own as he absent minded let a hand trail through Dick’s hair.

The omega’s lips were open, half-closed eyes as he leaned into Bruce’s shirt.


	4. Claim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter contains explicit sex.
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos.
> 
> Stay home and stay safe <3

Dick was wrapped in a blanket when he woke up, and hooked up to an IV. Several blankets were placed on top of him, and a pile of pillows were stacked behind him.

He was no longer in his own apartment; he remembered slumping like a sack of potatoes into Bruce as they drove away from Blüdhaven. Other parts of the trip were hazy.

Strangely, he was surprised that he wasn’t in Bruce’s bedroom; even if he never had been welcome in Bruce’s bedroom.

Despite the heat being turned up, Dick’s body shivered.

‘Ah, master Richard, you are awake.’ Alfred put a cup of tea on the table next to the bed. Pulling the cover off him to check the scratches on his neck. Dick’s eyes followed him around.

‘Where is B?’ Dick rasped, his chest clenched painfully that Bruce didn’t want to see him.

Alfred stopped.

‘Drink you tea, sir,’ the butler said, checking the IV. Shivers ran down his chest. If his face wasn’t numb, tears would have poured out of his eyes.

He sat up, staring into the nondescript room with the expensive draping and the dark wallpaper. Curtains were hung in front of the windows, a ray of light fell onto the gray carpet.

‘Let me know if you would be up for a little soup,’ Alfred said.

Dick ached for Bruce, but he understood that the alpha didn’t want to see him. He couldn’t blame him.

‘Is he all right?’ Dick tried, besides everything, Bruce had a concussion and broken ribs.

Alfred stopped and analyzed Dick for a moment.

‘He is outside the room,’ sighing. Dick almost knocked over the tea.

‘Oh.’ He leaned back, not knowing what that meant.

‘Why?’ Dick asked. He would have sworn that Alfred rolled his eyes. Maybe it was just his imagination.

***

Bruce was sitting on a chair next to him when he woke again.

‘Alfred said you needed to eat something.’ The alpha wore a crisp white shirt and dark slacks. Leave it to Bruce to look formal.

‘How are your ribs?’ Bruce held a hand to his side, showing that it was hurting.

‘Better.’

Dick couldn’t help but notice how far away Bruce was sitting. He knew how Bruce looked like when he was sleep deprived. And Bruce looked sleep deprived, and in pain.

They both knew it was Dick that had caused him to fall.

His heart hammered as Bruce leaned closer to him, raising his skin's temperature. Dick was self conscious of his old worn out t-shirt.

‘I am so sorry, B,’ Dick said, not only for causing Bruce’s injuries but also that he hadn’t stopped their encounter during Bruce’s rut.

That a bond between them had formed.

He didn’t deserve Bruce’s forgiveness.

Dick's face clenched in pain, the numbness still held back tears. The alpha studied him for a moment, trying to sort the enigma.

‘There is nothing to be sorry about, Dick,’ he then said. Dick couldn’t make out the emotion on Bruce’s face, as the other man refused to meet his eyes.

Dick’s shivered again, the swarming in his stomach increased by Bruce’s closeness. His body made an involuntary spasm.

Instinctively Bruce extended an arm to touch Dick’s hand, causing electricity to flow from the touch,m; Dick gasped for air like he was drowning.

Clearly, Bruce had not intended the touch, pulling away from Dick as the omega grasped for the other man.

‘B, don’t,’ he used all the strength left to plead with the alpha. Bruce struggled free.

Now Dick recognized the expression on Bruce’s face.

Guilt.

Dick pushed into the alpha. Closing his arms around him and buried his face in the crook in Bruce’s neck allowing the other man full access to the itching skin on his own.

Bruce’s breathing was ragged, first Dick attributed it to the rib-injury, when Bruce took a long sniff into him, Dick realized that it was something else, it was self-restraint.

‘Please claim me.’ Dick begged, struggling into the alpha's strong square form. Hard calloused hands dug fingers into his hair and down his back.

Relaxing at the first wetness on his neck. Bruce slowly licked him, and then finally digged his teeth into the tender flesh, tearing the skin open.

Dick’s body filled with heat and contentment, he slipped backwards into the pillows. Bruce following in slow-motion, careful not to interfere with the IV.

Bliss flodded Dick's veins as he slipped into sleep.

***

Bruce Wayne woke up from sharp pains from his ripcage and his head. He had fallen asleep uncomfortable positioned.

Something smelled of ocean and sunshine; it took a moment to realize that it was Dick. In the darkness he could make out his mate's form, sleeping flat on his back next to him.

Some color had returned to the omega's face; he looked serene as his chest rose and fell in a steady slow pace.

Bruce still wore his tight white dress shirt and slacks, his hip was tender where the leather belt had digged into the skin.

The mark he had made on Dick’s neck was already crusted with blood. Bruce realized that claiming his mate was the only proper course of action, but he was not proud of it.

Dick looked more like himself, even with weeks of drop, his toned flexible chest muscles and biceps were visible through the thin t-shirt.

His sleep was not the superficial, unhealthy sleep from before. He was snoring softly, his lips slightly parted.

Bruce was overcome by guilt. Dick shouldn’t be forced to be mated to someone like him. But his fate had been sealed ever since Bruce had ridden out his rut on him.

Hopefully, Dick would begin to regain his strength. The faster Dick got back on suppressants, the faster he could leave. Dick wouldn’t be have to be his mate in more than in name.

He put a hand on top Dick’s, in his sleep Dick closed his fingers around his.

The omega’s hand was warm and calloused. The bite marks were swollen and red, and Bruce had to resist the urge to touch the wound. He wanted to possess Dick, and devour him whole.

Repulsed by himself, the alpha let go. Growling, his head still hurt, and he should let Dick be in peace.

Straightening his shirt, staring away a moment before leaving, trying to getting used to not looking at Dick.

***

Dick didn’t know why he had expected that Bruce would be there when he woke up. Despite the absense of his mate, Dick relaxed, the claim mark ached pleasantly. His body had not yet noticed the absense of his alpha.

Removing the IV, his throat was dry, and his stomach rumpled.

Dick wished that Bruce had been there, after claiming him, but his absence told Dick everything he needed to know.

It was obvious that their bond was not something Bruce wanted.

He was used to that.

Alfred didn’t appear surprised when Dick appeared in the kitchen, still wearing the old t-shirt, pajamas pants and bare feet, bed hair and a telling mark on his neck.

Alfred read a newspaper and drank tea at the table in the kitchen; when he saw Dick, he put the paper down.

‘Ah, master Richard, you are up.’ Dick sat in front of the butler.

Dick wanted to ask about Bruce, embarrassed he held a palm to cover the claim mark on his neck.

Alfred stared at the mark on Dick’s neck, but choose not to comment.

‘There is a sandwich in the refrigerator.’ Alfred opened the newspaper again. Dick wanted to ask where Bruce was, but to be honest, it didn’t matter.

Dick just nodded. Awkwardly touching the bite mark, Alfred cast a glance over his glasses, but looked fast down again.

‘You should get that cleaned,’ the butler commented. Dick just nodded, sitting down to eat his sandwich. The claim mark stang, but for the first time in weeks, his neck didn’t itch.

For now he still floated from the connection to Bruce, even if he feared the inevitable rejection.

‘He is hiding in the cave,’ Alfred said, still reading.

Dick nodded.

***

Bruce was sitting in the semi darkness looking at surveillance cams and computer screens. Certain he would be thrown out, Dick studied Bruce for a moment.

The alpha had noticed him, even if he pretended not to. The spike in the alpha's pheromones gave it away. It might be because of their bond that he could detect it.

When they had worked together, he most certainly hadn’t noticed something like that. His heightened awareness of Bruce's state of mind, might be because Bruce had been slacking on his hormone suppressants or it might be because they were mated.

‘I expect that you leave as soon as possible?’ Bruce asked, as always it was difficult to read Bruce. 

Dick sighed.

‘Right, B.’ So he guessed that their bond really meant nothing.

‘I guess, I will be out of your hair soon enough,’ Dick said bitterly. He would leave if he couldn’t still detect the alpha’s arousal.

Despite his words, he moved to lean on the table in front of Bruce. His heart hammered as he lowered himself over the alpha. Using his acrobatic skills to not put weight on Bruce’s injuries.

Bruce stared up at him, not reacting, surprised. His eyes were open. His clear blue eyes. Dick let a hand slide through the alpha’s hair. Lust and affection for the alpha rippled through him as he lowered his lips to clash with Bruce’s.

Expecting to be rejected and for Bruce to push him off; but Bruce closed his hands on his back, and moved a hand under his t-shirt, kissing back, opening his mouth, welcoming Dick's soft kisses. Teasing.

If he had been in doubt whether Bruce was aroused before, Dick was definitely not in doubt anymore. He could smell the arousal. Thick and insisting.

Dick moved a hand to caress the bulge in Bruce’s slacks.

The bulge was hard and growing. Balancing with his knees on the arm rest of Bruce’s chair, he flickered the leather belt off, pulling the half hard erection out. Kissing, devouring Bruce’s mouth, while bringing the erection to life in pulsing movements.

Bruce moved a hand to the waistband of his pajamas buttons. A large hand caressing his own half hard erection, touching his tight balls towards his hole. Sliding a thick finger in.

Dick let out a hot breath as he relaxed. Bruce was massaging, prodding before pushing another in. Dick was getting hard. Sliding a hand firmly into Bruce’s hair for a firm grip.

Making needy movement to impale himself on the alpha’s thick fingers, Dick prepared himself for the enormous throbbing erection. The tip was already leaking.

He could smell the need, the desperation as Bruce slipped both fingers out as he struggled to maneuver Dick’s pajamas pants across his ass.

Taking control, Dick lowered himself down, aligning himself with Bruce’s cock, and pushing himself on it.

Bruce grunted, half surprised, half in pleasure he leaned back in the chair, eyes closed. Making a muffled sound when Dick clenched around him.

Dick struggled for a moment to breathe as he was stretched and filled. Trying to adjust before he carefully began rolling his hips.

Bruce let out a grunt, while Dick trailed soft kisses on his neck to the edge of the white shirt.

Bruce’s fingers trailed Dick’s toned, hard muscles. His eyes still half closed.

The hand moved across Dick’s abs and settled on Dick’s erection, prodding, caressing as Dick moved slowly in rolling movements.

Bruce leaned back, his tanned arm beginning to make strokes in an even faster pace, as Dick pushed the enormous girth further into him. The discomfort was drowned out by the extreme pleasure of the alpha so connected to him.

Dick’s pleasure build; he gasped as he came in Bruce’s hands, splashing over Bruce’s white shirt. Making a needing sound, Bruce rolled his hip up into him, panting, gasping, before warm liquid pulsed into him from the alpha's erection buried deep inside him.

Semen ran out, as Bruce leaned forward and buried his nose in the nape of Dick’s neck just where he had claimed him.

Dick let his naked feet dangle out over the armrests, still straddling Bruce.

Bruce began to swell inside him, but compared to the first time, the knot felt like he was filled by a pleasant warmth.

Realizing that they would be stuck together, he looked worried towards his mate.

The knot swelled in place making bliss spread through his body.

Bruce didn’t seem to mind though, licking the bite marks deliberately, as he gently massaged the omega’s back.

***

Bruce’s knot lodged itself firmly inside Dick’s warm tightness.

He should have stopped it, he knew it was because of their bond that Dick would willingly come to him. But at least for the next half hour, he would have a very warm and very real Dick Grayson stuck on top of him.

The ache in his side and ribs bothered him. Dick used his agility to not put weight on him, hovering from the armrests. Bruce let a hand trail through the other man’s smooth black hair.

Locking his eyes with the omega. He felt shame and guilt. Averting the gaze. Dick was still hot in his lap as his knot was linking them together.

He could see that Dick had noticed his change in his posture. Dick pursed his lips and pressed down with added weight. The weight he had previously been holding off by the help of the armrest; the added muscles were heavy on Bruce's injured side.

Exhaling hard both from the discomfort and the shifting pressure on his erection.

Something was amusing Dick.

‘B, why do you want me to leave?’ Dick asked and pressed down harder than what was comfortable.

Clenching hard around him, making Bruce groan, he tried to muffle the sound by clapping his teeth together. As his ribcage ached. Trying not to pant.

Bruce leaned back, groaning. Pleasure made him gasp as Dick leaned towards him again.

His body spasmed in desperation, as Dick's tightness closed around him. At this point, he did not understand why he would want Dick to leave.

‘I...’ Bruce gasped, Dick was making an almost criminal roll with his hips.

Before he closed his mouth on Dick. Moving his hands around under the thin t-shirt.

Dick’s lips curled up in a smile. Bruce kissed back, nipping at the omega's lips.


End file.
